TOR @ DEN: In the battle of Italian stallions, Danilo Gallinari (13 PTS, 8 REB) came out second-best to Andrea Bargnani (23 PTS, 4 REB) but his team won the war. If you used Corey Brewer in daily leagues last night, well done. He was unstoppable, changing the course of the game with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals in less than 21 minutes. JaVale McGee (17 PTS, 6 REB, 5 BLK) was also outstanding as the Denver bench was the difference. Ty Lawson (16) was OK, Kyle Lowry (24 PTS, 7 AST, 3 BLK) even better, but Jonas Valanciunas (7 PTS in 22:54) didn’t do as well as I hoped against Kosta Koufos (10 PTS, 10 REB, 2 BLK) and Kenneth Faried (18 PTS, 10 REB) was also solid up front. A rusty Mickael Pietrus (3 PTS in 25 minutes) started at SF for Toronto as Linas Kleiza (hip) couldn’t answer the bell.
ORL @ GSW: Oops. The letdown I saw coming “for sure” after their emotional win over the Lakers never happened, and the Magic won their second road game in 24 hours. Jameer Nelson (7 PTS, 9 AST) wasn’t as brilliant as the previous night, but Arron Afflalo and Glen Davis each scored 24 points and Nikola Vucevic was great, with 14 PTS, 15 REB, 3 AS, 2 STL and 2 BLK against the center-less Warriors. Stephen Curry (25 PTS, 11 AST) and David Lee (22 PTS, 9 REB) performed well enough, but Klay Thompson shot just 3-for-12 to finish with eight points. Jarrett Jack had 17 off the bench but his opposite number J.J. Redick was even better: 22 PTS, 7 AST, 5 REB in 35 minutes.
December 4 Games
MIA @ WAS: Obviously a mismatch on paper, as the Wizards are the worst team in the league and the Heat may be the best. Miami doesn’t let many teams score; Washington can’t even score against weak defenders. What’s uncertain is how long the likes of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James will be in the game, as it’s on the road and garbage time could arrive early. Jordan Crawford is the best and most consistent player for the Wiz, with Kevin Seraphin also worth starting, though a healthy Nene (admittedly a rare sighting) could eventually negate his value.
MIN @ PHI: This should be fun to watch. Kevin Love returned early from his broken hand then caught a nasty case of the flu, so we haven’t seen his best yet. In particular, his shooting has been off (37% FG, 68% FT, 19.4% 3PT) and the law of averages suggests that he’ll eventually catch fire in all those categories. Nikola Pekovic is more than just an intimidating bodyguard and can take advantage of Lavoy Allen in the paint. However, the Sixers have Jrue Holiday playing like an all-star and the Wolves’ revolving door of guards could be in for a long night. Evan Turner has also emerged this season as a consistent scorer, and Josh Howard is just filling in at SF for Andrei Kirilenko, who will sit out again with back spasms.
Even if Foye’s shot would’ve went in it was too late. There were only 0.7 seconds on the clock and he didn’t get it off fast enough. Still a great game.
kent ill wait for the diary and check back occasionally
please update me when you make your picks for tonight and nice analysis of last night 🙂